Lightning Welcomes UC Davis QB Jonathan Grant

April 24, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - The Stockton Lightning of the arenafootball2 league have announced the following roster moves:

œ QB Jonathan Grant activated from grefused to reporth œ WR BfJay Jones re-acquired from the Boise Burn in exchange for future considerations œ DB Randy Kelly acquired from the Arkansas Twisters in exchange for future considerations œ DL Lynell Hawkins placed on the gteam suspensionh list

The following players were also released and officially placed on greassignmenth: œ WR/DB Joe Garcia œ OL/DL Dennis Sogelau œ DB Tyler Bruhn œ WR Michael Hooper œ QB Joe Micco

Jones returns to the Lightning for his second stint and was the fourth leading receiver on the team last year, catching 41 passes for 589 yards. He caught 13 touchdown passes during his 2007 campaign, and averaged just shy of 60 yards receiving per game.

BfJay Jones has two years of af2 experience under his belt. His most productive season was during his 2004 rookie season with the Laredo Law. Jones played in all 16 games, catching 40 passes for 678 yards and 13 touchdowns. He excelled on the defensive side of the ball as well, recording 20 tackles, one sack, and one interception. He had career nights during a three week span in the summer of 2004. On June 19 he totaled a career best 138 receiving yards, and followed that up two weeks later by catching three touchdown passes against the Tulsa Talons.

Jones began his college football career at Grambling State University, but transferred to Langston University where he excelled as a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and track.

Grant, 24, is expected to serve in a backup quarterback role behind Chad Elliott and enters his first professional season in his Northern California territory after spending a decorated three year (2003-06) college career at University of California-Davis (NCAA). The Pacific Grove, Calif. native was named a 2006 I-AA.org preseason All-American selection and was a Great West Football Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Year in 2005.

Grant, who had a career-high 2,873 passing yards as a 2005 junior, led the Aggies to a monstorous upset of the Pac-10 member Stanford Cardinal in Setpember 2005 at Stanford Stadium, most famous for engineering a 72-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass with eight seconds remaining in the game.

Kelly, who turns 25 on April 30, appeared in one game with the Arkansas Twisters, registering three tackles and one interception on April 11 and spent the previous three seasons in college with the Arkansas Razorbacks (NCAA), garnering 2006 All-SEC Conference honors. The Palmetto, Fla. native registered 122 tackles and 2.5 sacks in 28 career games with Arkansas and helped guide the team to a berth in the 2007 Capital One Bowl.

Kelly had a career-high 58 tackles as a 2005 junior, ranking seventh among all Razorback defenders.

The Lightning return to play on Saturday for a week 5 road matchup against the Iowa Barnstormers, starting at 5:05 p.m. from Wells Fargo Arena. The game be heard on radio at 1420-AM KSTN and viewed, free-of-charge, online through www.stocktonlightning.com (courtesy of NifTy Online TV).

Season tickets and individual tickets for the 2008 Lightning regular season are on sale now. For more information on season tickets, merchandise, or other information, please call the Lightning at (209) 373-1500 or visit www.stocktonlightning.com.



ECHL Stories from April 24, 2008


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